No. 5 Michigan State 101, New Orleans 48: Keith Appling rebounded from a tough outing with 27 points and eight assists and Gary Harris tallied 19 points and nine rebounds as the host Spartans blew out the Privateers.
Adreian Payne collected 17 points and seven rebounds and Denzel Valentine added 10 points and 13 boards for Michigan State (11-1), which has won four straight. Appling, who was limited to four points on 2-of-11 shooting in a win at Texas last Saturday, was 7-of-10 from the field and hit all four of his 3-point attempts.
Matt Derenbecker scored 16 points and Cory Dixon added 11 points and seven rebounds for New Orleans (3-5), which shot 29.7 percent. The Privateers got only seven points from the bench as the reserves combined to go 2-for-20 from the field.
The Privateers led for much of the first 8 1/2 minutes before Alex Gauna's tip-in and dunk and a pair of Harris 3-pointers sparked a 12-0 spurt to give Michigan State a 21-10 advantage. New Orleans used its hot outside shooting to hang around awhile longer, but another 12-0 burst from the Spartans helped spread it out to 44-27 at the break.
New Orleans went scoreless for more than five minutes while the Spartans reeled off 21 straight points, hitting five 3-pointers during the stretch to open an 89-42 lead. Michigan State finished 13-of-25 from 3-point range while the Privateers were 7-of-26 from beyond the arc.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Michigan State F Branden Dawson sat out with a bruised shin. … Redshirt freshman F Kenny Kaminski was reinstated for Michigan State and scored four points in limited time off the bench. Kaminski had been suspended since Dec. 14 for academics-related issues - the same reason he missed two exhibitions and the season opener earlier this season. … The Spartans shot 54.5 percent and have hit 50 percent or better in seven of 12 games, including the past three.
New Orleans | Michigan St | |
Matt Derenbecker 16 | Scoring | Keith Appling 27 |
Isaac Mack 3 | Assists | Keith Appling 8 |
Cory Dixon 7 | Rebounds | Denzel Valentine 13 |
Christavious Gill 2 | Free Throws Made | Keith Appling 9 |
Cory Dixon 2 | Steals | Gary Harris 5 |
Cory Dixon 2 | Blocks | Russell Byrd 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
New Orleans | 48 | 29.7 | 7-26 | 3-10 | 9 | 30 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
Michigan St | 101 | 54.5 | 13-25 | 16-24 | 25 | 50 | 6 | 9 | 11 |